AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I saw Ben yesterday," he says as he swallows. "He asked Ron to arrange it."
I take a deep breath to rein in my crumbling emotions. I had no idea. There's no way I could have known that Noah and Ben spoke. The last I heard Noah was open to giving Ben another chance. I was actually in route to arrange a meeting between them when I'd been sidetracked by the overheard confessions of Ben and Parker. "Your father arranged it?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"He said Ben called him from Boston on Saturday night. He was torn up about you and about me." He cocks a brow. "He told Ron it was urgent that he speak to me."
"That's why you texted me so many times," I whisper as much into the air between us as at Noah.
"I texted you more than twenty times, Kayla." He sighs audibly. "I wanted to know what happened in Boston. I wanted to know what you told Ben about me before I saw him."
The answer to that is simple. "Nothing, Noah. We never got around to talking about you other than…" my voice trails. This is where I'm supposed to tell Noah that Ben was following me to watch our secret meetings.
"Other than what?" He leans forward waiting for me to respond.
"I heard him say something to Parker about you," I begin because it's where I need to start emotionally. I'm not going to throw Ben's devious behavior in Noah's face without some warning to soften it.
He motions towards me with his fork. "Ben told me about that. Christ, that's fucked up, Kayla."
It's all fucked up. All of it is. Even this part of it where I'm sitting in a diner listening to Noah tell me that he knows more about my situation than I ever wanted him to. I'm humiliated that I cared
for Ben. I'm ashamed that I gave my heart to Parker and I'm hopeful that I can escape this dinner with some of my dignity still in place.
I only nod in response because trying to find words to express how I've messed up my life isn't possible right now.
He wipes the paper napkin over his lips before he places his large hands on the table. "Ben followed you twice when you and I met."
"I know." My eyes dart from his face to his hands. I didn't know that it was only twice but considering the fact that Noah and I only met a few times, it makes perfect sense.
He smiles but it's fleeting and within a blink of my eye it's vanished. "So you know why he followed you?"
I know that Noah likes to draw people out of their shells without revealing too much of himself. Whether he's consciously aware of it or not, he's doing that to me now. I just want him to tell me what he discussed with Ben. "He wanted to see whether I was getting through to you, I guess," I say it stiffly. "He was using me to try and reconnect with you."
"Who told you that? Ben or Parker?" His head tilts to the right. "Which one told you that?"
"Ben said it when I heard them talking," I begin and then stop to take a drink of water. I dart my tongue over my bottom lip before I continue, "I heard Ben say that he followed me and that he could tell I was getting through to you and…" I stop again because confessing to Noah that Ben was going to hand me back to Parker on a silver platter once he and Noah were on better terms, stings too much.
"Ben told Parker you were his again when he got me back." Noah's eyes meet mine and I see a soft understanding there. He knows so much more than I thought he did. Judging by what he's told me so far, Ben has shared almost every detail of the exchange in Parker's apartment with him. "He only said those things to keep that asshole away from you. He knew Parker was a son-of-bitch."
I catch my breath to hold back an unexpected sob. I shouldn't be surprised that I'm this emotional. I've been holding everything in for two days. I wanted to cry when I'd checked myself into the small hotel room in Boston but as I sat in the bathtub there for more than an hour, nothing came. I was numb. I am numb. I've been that way since I heard Ben and Parker talking about me.
Noah reaches across the table to grab my hand. "You should have called me, Kayla. I would have come there. Alexa and I would have been on the next flight to come get you."
The words touch me so deeply that I weep aloud. "I didn't know that."
"We are your family." His large hand cradles mine tenderly. "We will always be your family. Tell me you know that."
I nod without raising my gaze from my lap. "I do know that, Noah."
"We need to talk about Ben, Kayla." His tone is smooth and direct. "I need to explain what's really going on."
I want someone to. I need someone to and if that someone is Noah Foster, I'm all ears.
Chapter 7
"I didn't choose Sadie to be my matron-of-honor because I love her more than you." Alexa sits down on the edge of the bed in the guestroom of the apartment she shares with Noah.
He'd brought me back here in a cab after we'd finished our dinner. It was important to him that Alexa be part of our conversation. She'd insisted that I spend the night at their place after he called to tell her he was bringing me over. I was grateful for the chance to sleep in this bed again. I feel safe here and a part of something that matters. I feel truly as though I'm with family.
"Sadie and you are so different," she continues without waiting for me to respond. "She needs me in ways you don't, Kayla."
